Tercera semana

I told myself when I started this blog that I was going to make an effort *not* to have to start every entry off with "Sorry it's been so long since I last wrote" but it looks like I shan't be so lucky. So, sorry it's been so long since I last wrote! The reasons are varied and include homework, migraines, threatened power outages caused by recent flooding of the city, and fickle internet connections, but also I've been distracted with trying to get out to enjoy the city on the rare nice days that we've had.

 As much as I'm enjoying speaking Spanish todos los días and meeting some lovely people in my program, it's been quite an adjustment. I plan to write more about this later, but suffice it to say the dietary transition has probably been the toughest. Most people who know me will attest that I will try anything once and that I'm not one to refuse food that's offered to me when I'm a guest in someone's home. However, I'm used to that being more of a special occasion than the norm, and to having the recourse to cook for myself most of the time. Believe it or not, I have eaten some sort of meat dish almost every day I've been in Buenos Aires. It's entirely possible to find vegetarian food around Buenos Aires, but the problem is that it's almost always accompanied by massive amounts of dairy and eggs, both of which I've consumed very little the last two years. I'm sure the change in diet was a big player, along with the heat and humidity, in the series of migraines I had during the past two weeks.

But enough with the whining! It really is fantastic here, especially when the weather is sunny and a little cooler. Because my class runs from 9:30am to 2:30pm, and because it's rained every weekend I've been here, I haven't had a lot of time to see the "sights" of Buenos Aires, but once my class wraps up at the end of this week, I plan to do it up tourist-style! A friend I knew in Ireland is living in Santiago, Chile, and is in BA this week with his cricket team, so we are planning to meet up downtown after I finish my exams on Thursday. Additionally, I decided to splurge on an excursion to El Calafate to see the Perito Moreno glacier during the first week of March. So I've got some fun things coming up before I start my volunteering with FundaciónCor in March!

As I said, I'll be writing soon with some more impressions of life on the sixth floor of 5831 Av. Libertador, but for now I'll leave you with this picture of me drinking mate with some friends from ISA. ¡Chau chau!